Astronomical educational apparatus.



L. M. HOUSEKNECHT. ASTRONO MICAL EDUCATIONAL APPARATUS. APPu'cAnou man APR. 23. 1914.

1,140, 1 60. Patented May 18, 1915.

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THE NORRIS PETERS (20.. PHOTO-LITHO.. WASHINGTON, D C.

UNITED STATES rnzrnrvr OFFICE LLOYD IVI. I-IOUSEKNECHT, OF PICAYUNE, MISSISSIPPI.

ASTRONOMICAL EDUCATIONAL APPARATUS.

Application filed April 23, 1914.

To all whom it may concern 9 Be it known that I, LLOYD M. Hoosn- KNECHT, citizen of the United States, residing at Picayune, in the county of Pearl River and State of Mississippi, have invented new and useful Improvements in Astronomical Educational Apparatus, of which the following is a specification. v

My. present invention pertains to educational apparatus; and it consists in the peculiar and advantageous apparatus, hereinafter described and claimed, designed and adapted to exemplify in an interesting and entertaining manner the movements of the earth and the moon, relative to each other and the sun.

In the accompanying drawing, constituting part of this specification, the fi ure is a view, partly in side elevation and partly in vertical section, of an apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention.

Referring by numerals to the said drawing: 1 is a casing, and 3 is a clock dial supported on a tubular upright 4, and having a hand 5. The said hand-5 is actuated by suitable clock mechanism inclosed in the easing 1, and hereinafter described.

At 6 in the casing 1 are batteries, and fixed to and rising from the casing is a tube 7 through which wires 8 are carried upwardly from the batteries. On the upper end of the tube 7 is an incandescent electric lamp 9, the filament of which is connected with the said wires 8. It will be obvious in this connection that the batteries may be dispensed with when it is feasible to connect the wires 8 with a source of electric energy in a building.

The incandescent lamp 9 is designed in the practice of my invention to represent the sun.

Loosely surrounding and adapted to turn about the fixed tube 7 is a tubular shaft 10. These shafts are designed to be rotated by the clock mechanism, hereinafter described, at proper rates of speed relative to each other and the hand 5; the scheme being to revolve the globe, hereinafter described, about its axis once every twenty-four hours, to carry the globe about the lamp representing the sun once in three-hundred and sixtyfive days, and to move the spherical body representing the moon about the globe incidental to twenty-eight revolutions of the earth on its axis.

Fixed on the upper end of the inner tubu- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 18, 1915.

Serial No. 833,912.

lar shaft 10 is a beveled gear 12 for a purpose hereinafter set forth, and fixed with respect to the outer tubular shaft 11 is a suitably braced tubular arm 13. On the outer portion of the said arm is fixed a casing 14, and journaled in the arm isa shaft 15, having at its inner end a beveled gear 16, intermeshed with the gear 12 on shaft 10, a sectional casing 13 connects shaft 11 and arm 13, and hence the gears in mesh. Arranged on the casing 14 is a stand 17 having a socket bearing 18, and disposed in said socket bearing is a ball 19 on a shaft 20 that is provided at its upper end with a globe 21, and at its lower end with a beveled gear 22. At its outer end the shaft 15 is provided with a miter gear 23, and from this gear motion is taken to rotate the globe 21 about its axis; the globe being at all times maintained in a position twenty-three and onehalf degrees north. Intel-meshed with the miter gear 23 is a miter gear24 fast on a shaft 25. Also fast on said shaft 25 is a spur gear20 which is intermeshed with a spur gear 27 loosely mounted on a shaft 28. Also loosely mounted'on the shaft 28 and fixed with respect to the spur gear 27 is a gear 29 which is intermeshed with the gear 22 at the lower end of the shaft that bears the globe 21. At its upper end the shaft 28 is provided with an arm 30 in which the shaft 20 is journaled. The said arm 30 serves to hold the pinion 22 in mesh with the gear 29, and also serves to retain the globe at twenty-three and one-half degrees north at all times.

For the purpose of rotating the shaft 28, I prefer to employ the train of gearing illustrated, which comprises the spur gear 31 fast on the shaft 25. This spur gear 31. is intermeshed with a spur gear 32 loose on the shaft 28, and provided with a pinion 33. The said pinion 33 is intermeshed with a spur gear 34 loose on the shaft 25, and having a pinion 35. This pinion 35 is intermeshed with a spur gear 36 loose on the shaft 28 and equipped with a pinion 37. This latter is intermeshed with a spur gear 38 loose on the shaft 25 and provided with a pinion 39. This pinion 39 is intermeshed with a spur gear 40 loose on the shaft 28 and provided with a pinion 41, intermeshed with a spur gear 42 loose on the shaft 25 and bearing a pinion 49. This pinion is intermeshed with a spur gear 44 loose on the shaft 28 and provided with a pinion 45,

which is intermeshed with a spur gear 46 loose on the shaft 25 and having a pinion 4&7 intermeshed with a spur gear 48 fast on the shaft 28. By the employment of the train of gearing described, motion is transmitted from the shaft 25 to the shaft 28 to revolve the arm 30, and this at a relatively low rate of speed.

Loosely mounted on the stand 17 is a spur gear 50, and to said gear is fixed an arm 51 having an upstanding portion on which is mounted a spherical body 52 which represents the moon. The spur gear derives its motion from the spur gear IO through the medium of a pinion 53, a shaft 5% and a pinion 55.

The clock mechanism shown in the casing 1 serves to actuate the clock hand 5, and the shafts 10 and 11. It comprises a motor spring 60, means for winding the same, ratchet means for holding the spring under tension, a governor 61 and trains of gears compatible with the purpose of my invention. These trains of gears are timed to move the hand 5, the shaft 10 and the shaft 11 at the proper rates of speed for their respective purposes. The said clock mechanism as a whole is of conventional wellknown construction, and I have therefore deemed it unnecessary to enter into a detailed description of the same.

It will be gathered from the foregoing that my novel apparatus is designed more especially for use in school rooms, and is calculated to hold the interest of pupils to such an extent as to assist materially in the teaching of geography. This will be appreciated, when it is stated that the apparatus will exemplify the difference between the summer and winter seasons, the difference between long days and short days, the hour when the sun crosses the equator, and the of the parts embraced in the present and preferred embodiment of my invention, in order to impart a full, clear, and exact understanding of the said embodiment. I do not desire, however, to be understood as confining myself to the said specific construction and relative arrangement of parts, as,in the future practice of the invention, such changes or modifications may be made as do not involve departure from the scope .of my appended claim.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is:

The combination of a suitable support, a stand arranged thereon and having a socket bearing, a globe, a shaft fixed with respect to the globe and having a ball disposed in said socket bearing and also having a gear, a gear intermeshed with the gear on the globe shaft, means for driving the last- .named gear, a revoluble arm receiving the globe shaft and adapted to hold the gear on the same in mesh with its complementary gear and also adapted to hold the globeshaft at an angle of inclination, and means for revolving said arm.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LLOYD M. HOUSEKNEGHT.

Witnesses:

C. C. HUT'roN, E. H. TERRELL.

Copies of this trade-mark may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

